First off I would like to say that video was put together very professionally. It gave me chills and seemed even more powerful than the lecture itself (no hate to Sam it was a great lecture). I am surprised at how much hate Sam's getting on this topic. I mean it is okay to disagree with him, but I do not think he is trying to get us to share his opinion and point of view on these matters. He simply wants us to think about the situation. You always need to put yourself in someone else's position before you comment or make a stance on the issue. Back to the lecture. Sam did get me to look at this war in a totally different perspective. I do not watch a great deal of news or read the newspaper. The only time I really get information pertaining to the war is when I watch "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" or "The Colbert Report." And although both of those programs are on Comedy Central, I feel that they deliver the truth in the news more often than the news stations do. Getting back on topic though; when I was listening to this lecture and putting myself int he shoes of a native Muslim, I did understand why they would fight back. Like Sam said, he is not saying it is right for them to attack United States soldiers, but he understands why they are doing it. I feel like this lecture was really an important one to have, especially with this issue affecting all of us. If a foreign country as powerful and as wealthy as the United States was coming into my country, my town, my home, and taking MY resources I would be big pissed. And maybe at first I would not do anything to fight back. But eventually if this kept up I would definitely join the resurgence and fight back. So my whole outlook on the war was different before this lecture, and I can admit I did not really know as much as I should have about it. But if it is true that we are only over there for the resources... the oil, then maybe my opinion has just changed. No matter what the case, whether we are talking about war or any other issue (like racism). The lesson learned here is to look at the situation through the other persons eyes. Do not be so quick to judge when all you are seeing are these YouTube videos depicting the enemy as ruthless killers who deserve what they are getting. They are seeing videos that are depicting us just as ruthless and destructive. Do get angry at this lecture, take what he gives you and try not to fall into the ethnocentrism trap when confronted with a situation. Great Lecture!

Yea I do not think that if you feel like you can help other countries out more than their own people can that it is any type of racism. I mean many people probably think that of all colors from the United States. The fact is that we are a very powerful and wealthy country compared to others, so that we most likely can help them out more than there own people can. The United States is always sending aid and money to other countries, not because we are better than them, but just because we can help them more than they can help themselves, and need our help (sometimes). I think it is totally unrelated to racism and just about the power and wealth of the country you come from.

Although 300,000 people dying in Haiti is a horrible tragedy, we cannot, as Americans, let that take over our lives. Of course we should feel some way about that, donate money to help, and keep the thoughts about what happened in out minds. But we have to move on, and get on with our lives. That is the case even when a family member dies. You never forget about their passing, you never stop feeling the pain of their passing, but you have to move on. When it is a family member of course it is going to hit you harder and you may take some time off to gather yourself, but in the end you get back to your life. When the tragedy is all the way in another country, you are going to be able to move on even quicker.

Well let me just say this. I have already taken five years of Spanish and still could not carry on a conversation if my life depended on it. Even after that many years I still dread going to the class each and every day. It is too late for people our age to easily learn a new language. If this language is valuable to learn, then start teaching kids when their young. That is supposed to be the easiest time for them to learn it. So if you are going to invest time in trying to have this catch on. Start in elementary school, do not wait until high school. It will be easier for the kids to learn and give them big head start. For the rest of us, if we have not learned a new language thus far, it probably will not happen, at least not easily. I will stick to English.

I can agree with you. Men definitely conform to society to some extent. I do believe it is much less than women. Guys seem to just not give a crap most of the time. But personally the at the end of the day it's about how I view myself when I look in the mirror. Although it's great if everyone else has a positive view towards you the first step is being comfortable with yourself. Things that I do to improve my appearance or to "look good" are mainly done so I feel satisfied with myself. Once I achieve that, then I probably won't really care about changing for anyone else.

Japan seems to always to be the first one to do these type of things. Hentai is a big thing over there. I definitely think this game should not have made it to the public. I do not think this will work as an "alternative" to actual rapists. It will probably just be an addition to their outrageous acts. And although I do believe Sam is right when he thinks there are some guys in our glass that would play this game while downing a few brewski's but I would not be one of them. I stick to my violent Call of Duty and worry about the negative affects that is having on me. My potential for murder is probably way higher now. Joking of course, I do not believe video games sculpt the player. But she was right to say that "no one should play a game when the only way to win is to rape.

Pretty good question, although I do not believe most of the answers will be surprising. I'm sure the answers are mixed, but the majority of people should admit that this class has changed their views and opinions about SOMETHING. We have covered so many topics and Sam has made a great deal of good points. He may not be right about everything, but I think he's spot on most of the time. I mean even if your views have not changed, you still cannot possibly say this class was not valuable. I have learned a lot of things in this class that I had no idea about before. And whether or not Sam influenced my opinion, he reached his goal by getting me to think about the topics, and thus at least coming up with my own opinion on them. The two Sociology classes I have taking at Penn State (Soc 005 with Clemente, which was probably my favorite class ever & this course) have taught me way more important and value things about life than all my other classes combined. These classes should be required here at Penn State and I feel that the majority of students would agree. I do not really think Sam's goal is to change people's opinions. He stated in class he just wants everyone to think about the topics. Of course he would probably prefer if some students opinions were changed to ones that he shares also, but who does not want that. He succeeded in getting people to think about and become aware of all these topics and that is just as important of a accomplishment. This class has a great importance to me. I have learned a great deal just through the readings from the books. Although painfully long, the book on today's slavery opened up my eyes. Although I may not be actively doing anything to help stop the slavery that takes place today. At least I am aware of it, and know that it should not be a problem today. Learning about all the different topics covered since day 1 of class will help me successfully live my life. I feel that just being able to listen to what Sam has to say is an honor. I know I will think back to this class someday and be glad that I took it. I feel that awareness is the first step to all these problems. So maybe not everyone's opinions changed on topics discussed in class. But I bet that everyone gained a new awareness of the issues. And that I think is what is most important. I am way more aware of how this world works and all the injustices that occur here. As Sam said, the life we live right now is purgatory. See there's one thing right there he changed my mind about!

Yea this is kind of ridiculous. Everyone knows where they "should" categorize themselves on the census. Some people just want the specific term they use to be on there. They can not make everyone happy. There just trying to count the people of the United States. People need to quit making it harder on them, when it is already a pretty tough task. I do not care of the reasons for not selecting the correct choice, just choose a damn box and forget about it. It's not a big deal, this should not be an issue. Everyone just needs to fill it out with the idea that they are trying to make it as easy as possible on the people who are going to be interpreting the census form.

This video was definitely a shocker to me. I was very surprised at the results from this experiment. Even if the effects were unintentional, these children were basically programmed to believe that white is better in every way. Now we all know that is not true, and although these kids may not have been taught that white is better, just by interacting in everyday life, they ended up having that opinion, probably subconsciously. I feel as though the media is the main thing to blame in this situation. There is no reason why these children should have this idea in their head. I am not sure what can be done to help fix this problem, the video really opened my eyes to it.

This is a great post by Sam; he brings up an important topic that we may have touched on in a certain way in my SOC 119 class. Asking questions is undoubtedly an unimaginably important aspect of life. Without questions you have no answers. Brilliant minds who have asked questions shaped the world into what it is today. And it was mostly for the better. There were many issues in the past that people refused to ask questions. Slavery in the United States back in the day is a perfect example of this. Blacks were forced to be slaves of the whites. “It’s just the way it was.” Ethnocentrism was abundant in those times. There were major problems here in the United States, but they kept on being overlooked and simply not discussed. Of course there were always people who asked questions, but until it was done by a person with power, nothing was really done about the problems that existed. Today the problem of ethnocentrism still exists, and will continue to exist. There is no possible way to eliminate it, but we can try to reduce it. It is important to question anything that you think is morally wrong. You must “step outside your own shoes” and look at the world in someone else’s. The world does not revolve around one individual and no one is right about a topic 100 percent of the time. It is important to ask questions and discuss every possible topic. We have to work together to move forward and better ourselves. We as individuals are weak, but as a group we can do big things. Those people who only care about themselves and will not look at things from a different point of view are slowing down our progress. Fixing this problem will not be easy. Every time you turn on the television, specifically a news station, there are people arguing about a certain topic. One person tells you to think one way about something, and another wants you to support a different view. With so many people on news stations arguing about topics, it is hard for us as viewers to not do just the same. Nothing should ever be looked at as being “just the way it is.” Things are a certain way for a reason, and it is everybody’s job to find out if that particular reason is right or wrong. If the reason is justified, you move on to the next topic. If you feel the reason is not justified, then question it and try to solve the problem to make things better. In a world were so many people hate each other and can not get along, it is important for everyone to try and move forward. Start to discuss topics and come to an agreement to better ourselves and our country.